well man, HONEST TO GOD i did ZERO ab training, and i've never trained my abs in fact

IMO the only reason to train abs is to make the ab wall thicker, so if you want to thicken your ab wall then train them, but train them just like any other muscle

Unless your a guy who competes on stage and every detail is important i would just train them say 2x a week like i do. I just do Basic crunches and sometimes Reverse crunches. After my leg day doing stiff legged deads my abs are sore. I used to be obsessed with a 6 pack too and did every exercise under the sun. Bought books and shit. Fucking waste of time and money... you can even keep your abs in shape with old school sit ups. worry about your big muscles and forget the Beach 6 pack. a flat hard waist is what i go for now. I see a some abs but if i wanted to REALLY concentrate on them i would lose weight and my poundages would suffer.

Unless your a guy who competes on stage and every detail is important i would just train them say 2x a week like i do. I just do Basic crunches and sometimes Reverse crunches. After my leg day doing stiff legged deads my abs are sore. I used to be obsessed with a 6 pack too and did every exercise under the sun. Bought books and shit. Fucking waste of time and money... you can even keep your abs in shape with old school sit ups. worry about your big muscles and forget the Beach 6 pack. a flat hard waist is what i go for now. I see a some abs but if i wanted to REALLY concentrate on them i would lose weight and my poundages would suffer.

Met quite a few successful lifters (BB'er & PL'ers) who hit a selected muscle group, or lift, every 7 to 9 days. Anything longer than that, most tend to not keep, even slightly losing, their training/conditioning edge. Usually the 7-9 thing is when extra heavy workouts are done. I'll do once a week usually. Think most trainee's would find once or twice a week to their benefit, when working a targeted body part. Three times a week, to me, is just not needed. Even full body workouts (becoming somewhat popular now) can be preformed once or twice a week.

As dj181 suggest, direct ab training may be over hyped. The Ab's are a very powerful short range muscle group (as most short range muscle groups are) and should to trained that way. Regular BB'ing rep of 8 to 12, 2 or 3 sets should be all that is need. Even indirect exercises, like chins, pullovers, cleans,dips, etc, hit the total Ab wall (obliques also). If finding happiness in marathon ab workouts, than help yourself. Fear not of adding impressive weight to any of your Ab workouts, they are designed for strength.

One of the better Ab training devices is the common, and much over looked, Ab Wheel. Another device it the original Roman Chair. Extremely effected. They both hit the total Ab structure, upper and lower, with equal attention. Some of the exercise equipment that are being sold as Roman Chairs, in reality, are far from the original concept and not real Roman Chairs. Good Luck.

Might also suggest working the lower back with any serious Ab training. Want balanced strength/development with each other. Abs will help the back to stay healthy and the back will help the Abs stay healthy. They function as a single unit to insure a higher level of performance, and (hopefully) free from strain and injury.

Romanian DL's, GoodMoringing's and back extensions might be considered. Worth the time and effort..... always. Good Luck.

i "feel" like i need to train each muscle every 3 to 5 days for best possible results, but i have made gains even taking up to 7 or 8 days btw bodyparts, but i've never really gained waiting any longer than that, and strength and size starts to go down "de-compensation" if i put any more than 2 weeks, or 14 days btw bodypart sessions

That's awesome! I didn't train abs for my first couple years. I stopped gaining strength (especially stuck on squatting) and I realized my abs muscles were extremely weak, unbelievably weak. I guess the only reason I've been training them is because I feel like it's helped me grow in other areas.

It's been my experience that if you are lifting heavy to failure that once a week works. If you are doing a little more volume working on increasing endurance doing say 3 to 6 sets an exercise then twice a week is better. Just that simple.

Looking really in shape there. Solid physique. Were you juicing or natural?

i was a lifetime natty at the point in time

i weighed all of 157 @ 5'11" and i was running bout 3 miles a day 5 days per week and lifting about 5 days per week as well

recently i've decided to give up on "the dream" of being larger and just focus on being fit as fuck and looking like i did there with just a tad bit more size (hopefully mostly on my arms and delts, as my torso outshines my delts and arms)

170-175 is my max desired weight, but at that level of leaness/condition

i weighed all of 157 @ 5'11" and i was running bout 3 miles a day 5 days per week and lifting about 5 days per week as well

recently i've decided to give up on "the dream" of being larger and just focus on being fit as fuck and looking like i did there with just a tad bit more size (hopefully mostly on my arms and delts, as my torso outshines my delts and arms)

170-175 is my max desired weight, but at that level of leaness/condition

Being Fit is the best Goal, Muscle and cardio fitness and flexibility.